Story of the Three
by Miqila
Summary: We all know the tragedy of team Winter... or do we? Everyone knows of Aramaki's sorrow, how Fubuki died and so on, but what happened to the three people who never made it to the future? What kind of horror did they face? This is their story.
1. Fuka

**Disclaimer: I don't own 7 Seeds.**

 **Fuka**

It was cold. That was the first thing Fuka thought of when she woke up. It was also dark; she couldn't see a thing despite her eyes being wide open. Confused, she started to move around, but was able to do so only a little as hard, cold steel met her hands wherever she reached for.

"Huh?" she muttered "Where am I?"

"That's what we'd like to know, too" Fuka jumped as someone actually _answered_ her question. She looked around wildly, still seeing nothing "Who's there!?"

"The name's Murozaki. Murozaki Toji." the voice, it belonged to a man, replied "And just to make things clear: we don't know where we are or why, either."

Fuka wasn't sure if to believe the man or not, but something he had said had caught her attention.

"We?"

"Me and Fushizuke Arare" the voice, Murozaki, clarified "I can't see her or you for that matter, but I can hear her occasionally. Her yelling woke me up earlier."

"Wha-?" Fuka didn't know what to say. Where was she? Why was she there? Who were the people with her?

"That aside, you never told me your name" Murozaki pointed out, and Fuka realized that he was right. Should she tell him? Well, it probably wouldn't cause her any harm if she did.

"Ayatori Fuka" she replied.

"Ayatori-san... or would just Fuka be okay?"

"I guess..." Fuka said, surprised by the normalness of his speech "I suppose I can call you Toji, then?"

"Sure" in Fuka's eyes, or ears to be exact since she couldn't see him, he was far too relaxed and optimistic to be in the same situation as her. He knew something.

"You sound rather relaxed, don't you?" she asked, clenching her fists as she glared at the direction she thought the voice was coming from "Far too relaxed in fact... you know something, don't you? Tell me!"

There was a silence for quite some time, and when Fuka finally came to the conclusion he wouldn't answer, Toji spoke: "Arare and I came to the conclusion that we were kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?"

"Well, we couldn't come up with anything else that would fit" Toji told "I mean, there could have been an earthquake or something like that that took out the lights and got us stuck... well, here, but..."

"That can't be; I went to sleep at home. I mean I live in an apartment building and could have gotten stuck with a neighbor, but as far I know we don't have neighbors by your names and and-"

"Fuka, calm down" Toji interrupted. He didn't raise his voice, but the tone he used was stern "You're starting to panic, and that won't help."

Fuka knew that, of course, but she couldn't help herself. Again, she wondered how Toji could be so calm. But before she could wonder about it any further he spoke again: "And you're right; the names "Ayatori" or "Fushizuke" don't ring a bell, so I suppose we aren't from the same neighborhood. Besides, I'm from Nagano and Arare's from... Sapporo, I think that's what she said."

"I'm from Kyoto" Fuka said automatically, frowning as she heard Toji chuckle "What?"

"Nothing" the man replied "I mean, at occasions it seemed like you had a dialect, the Kansai one, but you hide it well."

Fuka blushed, not that Toji could see it, before huffing.

"So? At least I don't keep using English words like the people from Tokyo usually do" she defended herself.

"I meant no offence" Toji said "Just making a conversation."

"Okay"

Silence followed; Fuka didn't know what to say. For her, the silence was very uncomfortable. She was by no means a silent person after all, but she didn't know what to say.

"Hey" she suddenly said without thinking.

"Yeah?"

Fuka hesitated, yet asked anyway: "If we were kidnapped someone is bound to come here to give us food sooner or later... right?"

Toji's answer took oddly long, but he did answer: "...Yeah, of course."

Fuka frowned; it sounded like he had hesitated. Did he know something she didn't?

"Has anyone come after you woke up?" Fuka asked. She needed some information, even if just a little bit.

"Nope"

"How long have you been awake?" she pressed. If he knew something he wasn't telling she was going to let him have it when this was all over!

"Uh..."

"Two hours and 30 minutes, give or take a few" Fuka jumped as she heard the unfamiliar, female voice "And around three hours for me."

"Oh, you're awake, Arare-Chan" Toji said casually. Fuka had forgotten he had mentioned another person earlier.

"I was never asleep to begin with" Fuka heard Arare mutter before she went quiet again.

"Okay, sorry" Toji apologized, adding "She doesn't really talk much... anymore. A few hours ago she was pretty loud."

Fuka could believe that; Arare's voice had been pretty hoarse, like she'd been screaming nonstop. And in this situation Fuka believed that to be the case. Her thoughts are pulled away from the quiet woman as Toji asks her a question. It has nothing to do with the situation or the things they've talked about, so she can't help but ask him why he's asking it. Toji just answers that he's only trying to start a conversation to pass time. And so they start a casual conversation. They talk about everything... well, almost. They talk about hobbies, likes and dislikes, school, she found out Toji was on his last year of high school, but they avoided one subject: people they cared about. Neither had brought the subject up even once; it was like they had an unspoken agreement not to do so. But other than that, they spoke about everything. Toji even managed to get Arare to throw in a comment once in a while. Fuka tried too of course, but she got nothing but one word answers. They talked actively for a few hours, Arare was keeping count is how Fuka knew, and eventually started to run out of will to stay optimistic and to talk. And out of voice, too.

"I'm hungry and thirsty" Fuka suddenly told "Do you think someone will soon come to give us food?"

"No" Arare answered quietly before Toji could "They'll let us starve and die of dehydration."

"Arare!" Toji hisses, but Fuka ignores it as she realizes that Arare might be right. She hadn't heard a sound aside from the ones the three of them made; there was no one around. She had tried to break out of whatever she was being held in and had made a lot of noise, but no one had come to see them. They were alone, the three of them.

"What?" Arare asks, sounding offended "We all know it's true."

And they do. Toji too; Fuka knows this because he doesn't argue. He knows they're all doomed.

"I wanna see my dad" Fuka blurts out suddenly. She knows she sounds like a little kid, but she doesn't care.

"What about your mom?" Toji asks. Fuka shakes her head, saying: "She died long time ago."

"That's probably for the best" Arare speaks once more "For she doesn't have to worry about her missing daughter."

"Knock it off already" Toji hisses at her. Fuka decides to tune out them both; she's tired of listening to them. She doesn't know how much time passes, but it has to be a lot for she's so hungry and her throat feels like desert. At one point she falls asleep, or perhaps unconscious, and when she wakes up she's still there, and not feeling better. Not in the slightest.

"Toji?" her voice is hoarse "Are you still there?"

"Yeah" his isn't much better "And Arare-chan? You still there?"

They get no answer.

"Arare?" he repeats "You don't have to speak, but give us some kind of sign that you're still there, okay?"

For a while they can't hear anything, but Fuka thinks the other girl might just be asleep. She can't be gone, right? After what feels like an eternity, Fuka hears three firm, solid knocks.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah" Toji answers, and Fuka hears him cough a little bit "It's Arare."

Time passes, but Fuka doesn't know how long. Merely some minutes? Hours? ...Days? No, people can't survive even for a full day without anything to drink, right? But it felt like it had been so long...

"Toji" she calls out, not even sure anymore why.

"Yeah?"

"If we ever get out of here, let's go on a date" why she said that, Fuka had no idea. She didn't even know him... but at the moment he was all she had.

"Yeah, sure" he said "Hey Arare-Chan, do you want to join us?"

They got no answer, not even a knock.

"...Seriously, Toji?" Fuka asked with a weak laugh; wondering how she could still find humor in this situation.

"I just thought it'd be rude to leave her out of this."

"Or you're just a womanizer" Fuka pointed out, her voice going even weaker from the use.

"I won't admit or deny anything."

She chuckled, but didn't say anything anymore. She was so tired... and thirsty. Her throat felt like sandpaper by now. Maybe that's why Arare hadn't said anything anymore? She no longer could? Fuka felt like the same thing would happen to her soon, too.

"Everything okay, Fuka?" she heard Toji ask. She knew it had been quite while since anyone had said anything, but didn't know exactly how long.

"Uhhuh" and they were quiet again. Sometime later, he called out her name again. This time Fuka didn't feel like answering, so she just gave a few knocks to answer him. He asked for Arare too, but as far as Fuka could hear she gave no signs of being there.

"Fuka" she could hear Toji call for her again, but she had no energy left to give any kind of reply anymore "Arare? You girls still there?"

Where else would they be?

"Fuka? Please answer" she wanted to, she really did, but she just didn't have the energy to do so "Arare-chan?"

As far as Fuka knew, the other girl gave no sign either. She opened her mouth to speak, but got no words out of her dry throat. Trying to call out Toji's name one last time, the girl fell in to blackness.

 **A.N: I honestly have no idea how the capsules or whatever they were all held in worked and if they could really wake up and talk with each other like this or not, but that's how I decided it to be in order for this to work.**


	2. Arare

**Arare**

Arare had had a bad dream. Really bad. In it she had been sleeping in her room, but had woken up thanks to the door creaking open. Someone came in to her room, and she had barely sat up before the person had already been next to her bed. She hadn't known him, but before she had had the chance to react there was something in front of her face and she smelled an odd, sweet scent.

And then she had woken up.

"I haven't had nightmares in a _long_ time" Arare muttered, rubbing her eyes. Blinking a few times, she raised an eyebrow as she realized how much darker it was than it was supposed to be. Even if it was still middle of a night, she had left a small lamp on when going to sleep. Maybe the light bulb had burned out? Or the power had cut? But there should be some light coming from the window even at night...

Arare tried to sit up only to realize she was already doing so.

" _I must've jumped up in my sleep because of the dream"_ she thought. However, she found it odd that her back met a wall already; that shouldn't be the case.

" _Did I move in my sleep this much?"_ she wondered, trying to find the light switch only for her hand to meet a bare wall _"Huh?"_

Arare extended her other hand as well, but it didn't meet anything else, either.

"What?" and now that she thought about it, it didn't feel like she was sitting in her bed, either... putting her hands down quickly, she confirmed the fact. Whatever she was sitting on wasn't soft; it wasn't her bed.

"Where am I?" she wondered. This wasn't her room; what had happened? Maybe...

" _Was it not a dream after all?"_ the young woman thought. This idea made her began to panic. If it hadn't been a dream, did it mean she had been kidnapped?

"Hello?" she called out before she could really think about it "Is anyone there?"

She got no answer.

"Hello?" she tried again, hitting the wall, or a door, in front of her lightly "Can anyone hear me?"

Not getting an answer, Arare started banging on the wall.

"Hello?" each passing minute that didn't give her an answer made her panic more and, soon enough, she was screaming for somebody to answer as she banged on the wall.

"Ugh... what's with the yelling?" Arare froze as she heard this. It was a man's voice "What the heck?"

"Who's there!?" Arare questioned. Was it the same person who had brought her to... where ever this was? Or someone else entirely?

"I'm Murozaki Toji" the voice replied "Who am I talking to?"

"I'm-" Arare paused; was it okay to tell this stranger, who might be behind whatever mess she had gotten in to, her name?

"Arare" she finally said. If he really was her kidnapper or the like he probably knew that already "Fushizuke Arare."

"Well it's nice to meet you... even if I can't see you" Toji said "So, where are we? It's really dark in here."

"I don't know" Arare told. Had this Murozaki guy also been kidnapped or was he faking it? How could she find out?

"Do you see anything around you?" she asked.

"Nope, it's all dark" Toji said "And narrow. How about you, Arare-cha- ah, is it okay if I call you that? You can call me Toji."

"Sure" Arare said. It didn't matter after all; she had bigger things to worry about right now "It's the same here; dark and narrow and the walls around me won't even budge."

"I haven't even tried to move them" Toji told "But I suppose I should."

Arare could hear Toji moving around loudly, but her mind was set on something else: Toji seemed awfully calm for a person who woke up in an unfamiliar place.

" _Or is his reaction actually normal and_ I'm _just overreacting?"_ she wondered. It was possible; part of the reason she had panicked so much might have been because of what she had first thought was a dream. And she had woken up alone, but he had not.

" _I'm just over thinking things... right?"_ she wasn't sure.

"No use" she heard Toji say, which pulled her out of her thoughts "These walls or whatever won't move."

His voice was calm. A bit too calm in fact.

"You seem really calm" she decided to voice her suspicion "Why is that?"

"Uh..." Toji was silent for a while and when he finally answered Arare could _swear_ he was nervous "I'm just an optimistic person... I guess?"

Somebody sure sucked at lying; he knew something but wasn't going to tell her, that much Arare understood. However, two could play this game. She _had to_ play along; now was not the time to panic.

"I see" she said "So, where do you suppose we are?"

"Uuh... some kind of basement?" Toji suggested "It's a bit chilly in here after all, isn't it?"

Now that Toji mentioned it Arare noticed it too; it was indeed a bit chilly.

" _I suppose I didn't notice because I panicked so quickly."_ she thought.

"I suppose it is" Arare said "But then again, this is Sapporo. It's pretty cold here at this time of the year, right?"

"Sapporo?" Toji repeated "We aren't in Nagano?"

"Nagano?" Arare repeated, confused "No, I'm sure I went to sleep at home in Sapporo."

"Well I went to sleep at home, too" Toji told "But in _Nagano._ "

Arare frowned; this didn't look good.

"So... I was probably right from the beginning..."

"Huh?"

"We were kidnapped" of that Arare was sure; there was no other explanation. But who'd kidnap two people from such a different locations? Was Toji actually working with the kidnapper and just bluffing?

"Kidnapped? Don't think so" Toji said "I come from a farm and we ain't rich; why would anyone want to kidnap me?"

"Well, any other ideas, farm boy?" Arare asked with a huff _"C´mon, tell me the truth... or at least let_ something _slip."_

"Not really" Arare sighed; she probably wouldn't be getting anything out of him any time soon. Frustrated, she kicked the wall in order to get it to move. It didn't work. Frowning, she tried a little harder.

"What's all the noise?" Toji asked. Stopping her kicking to answer, Arare said: "I'm going to kick these walls down!"

"...Will that work?"

"We'll see" Arare answered, rapidly kicking the wall again until she was breathing heavily.

"I think you need a break" Toji said, suggesting "Wanna play Shiritori?"

Despite knowing he wouldn't see her, Arare glared.

"Play by yourself!"

"Hey I'm just trying to kill time" Toji said "But if Shiritori's not okay then... let's see... tell me about yourself."

"What?" Arare asked. Just what in the world was going through this young (she assumed) man's mind?

"Just trying to start a conversation" Toji told "Well?"

"I don't want to talk to you!" Arare hissed, kicking the wall again. Why should she? He knew more about their situation than he let on; she was sure of it. And he'd better watch out when she gets her hands on him!

"I have a feeling that you don't like me"

"Gee, what was your first clue?" Arare muttered as she started kicking and hitting the walls again, stopping only when her knuckles started to bleed.

"Are you okay in there?" Arare could hear Toji clearly, but she didn't bother to answer.

"Arare-chan? Arare!"

"I'm here okay, quit shouting!" Arare called back between her gasps for air.

"Well sorry, but since you weren't answering..." Toji trailed off "Any luck?"

Arare didn't answer. She considered telling Toji to try too, but if he was really behind this it wouldn't do any good.

" _I need to stay calm; I'll get out soon enough"_ she told herself, but the panic was returning and it would soon overthrow her annoyance that Toji was causing. She started kicking and hitting the walls again, but it was no good. She was trapped and wouldn't get out on her own.

" _This is hopeless"_ Arare thought, letting her tears fall as she wondered _"Why hasn't anyone come already after all the noise I made? Surely the kidnappers have heard me..."_

"You okay, Arare-chan?" Toji asked "Arare-chan?"

Arare didn't answer; she just sobbed in to her hands, ignoring Toji.

"C'mon Arare, you're making me worry" Toji said "Say something!"

But she didn't, not for quite a while. At times she tried to bring the wall down again, muttering how she wouldn't give up, but that was it, at least, until she heard a voice. A voice that wasn't Toji's.

" _That's a woman's voice..."_ she realized, hearing Toji answer the other woman's question right after. Arare listened to their conversation carefully, but didn't put in. It seemed that the other woman's name was Ayatori Fuka. It didn't ring any bells for her.

" _She noticed the same thing I did"_ Arare thought. Toji was indeed too calm. As Fuka started to panic Arare wondered why Toji bothered to try and calm her down. He was in on this, wasn't he? Not that it mattered that much. Arare was ready to tune out their conversation, but when Fuka asked a question Toji couldn't answer, she answered without thinking twice: "Two hours and 30 minutes, give or take a few. And around three hours for me."

It seems that Toji had thought she had gone to sleep, but she denied it. Now the other two seemed to be starting a casual conversation. She threw a comment in from time to time, mostly because Toji was so persistent. It was a smaller hassle just to answer him.

"I'm hungry and thirsty" Fuka suddenly told "Do you think someone will soon come to give us food?"

"No" Arare answered quietly before Toji could "They'll let us starve and die of dehydration."

"Arare!" She hears Toji hiss, but ignores it. If he thinks she's wrong he should do something about it; surely he has a way to contact somebody.

"What?" Arare asks, offended "We all know it's true."

Except maybe Toji knew otherwise. Maybe, if she pressed him, he'd tell them something or let something slip. Maybe...

"I wanna see my dad" Fuka says suddenly.

"What about your mom?" Toji asks. Fuka replies: "She died long time ago."

"That's probably for the best" Arare decides to speak. Maybe this could get something out of the guy "For she doesn't have to worry about her missing daughter."

"Knock it off already" Toji hisses.

"I will when you do, too" Arare says "I know you know something."

Toji doesn't answer, but she doesn't expect him to, not yet. Silence takes over as neither speaks for a while and Fuka has gone quiet as well.

"Toji?" Arare hears Fuka call "Are you still there?"

"Yeah" the man answers "And Arare-chan? You still there?"

Of course she's still here... but maybe not answering would lead to something?

"Arare?" he repeats "You don't have to speak, but give us some kind of sign that you're still there, okay?"

Should she answer after all? She wants to press Toji, but worrying Fuka might not be right... in the end, she decides on giving them three knocks. That would have to do.

"Did you hear that?" Fuka asks.

"Yeah" Toji answers, and Arare hears him cough "It's Arare."

For a long time its quiet and Arare knows that she fell asleep at some point. However, Toji calling their names brings her back to the dark reality.

"Fuka? Arare-chan?" his voice is quiet "Please say something, either of you!"

She didn't feel like she should bother.

"C'mon girls, you're still there, right?"

Of course they were. Well, Arare was, but she wasn't sure about Fuka anymore. Maybe the other girl was dead already.

"Girls!?"

"Will you shut up already!?" Arare suddenly hissed "You're getting on my nerves!"

"So you're still here..." Toji muttered "What about Fuka?"

"Probably dead already" Arare blurted out "Of dehydration."

"Don't say that!" Toji said "Besides, can people really die of dehydration this fast?"

"Do you know how long it's been?" Arare asked, but when Toji didn't answer, she said: "Didn't think so."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this..." Toji's muttering caught Arare's full attention. Finally, _finally_ he let something slip "Just what went wrong?"

"I knew it" she said "You _do_ know something! Tell me what's going on!"

Toji's silence was making Arare even more impatient. She had finally gotten something out of him, so now was definitely not the time to back down.

"Toji!"

"...it might be better not to know" the guy finally said "I... it wasn't supposed to go like this... we were supposed to..."

His slow talk got on Arare's nerves. They were supposed to what?

"I wouldn't have let them make me part of this if I'd known..."

Who was "them?" Make him part of what? Known _what?_

" _It doesn't feel like he's even talking to me anymore... it's more like he's talking to himself."_ Arare tried to force herself to calm down. While Toji obviously knew _something_ , things clearly hadn't gone the way he had expected. Something had gone wrong and he was shocked; she shouldn't be yelling at him right now. She tried to get Toji to talk again, but the things he did say made no sense to her. And so she gave up.

She sat there in silence again, only hearing Toji mumbling something under his breath every once in a while, but she wasn't really listening anymore; she was so tired. Really, really tired.

" _I don't want to die like this..."_

But she was so tired; her eyes were starting to close. Yet, before she slipped to eternal sleep, she clearly heard Toji say: "This isn't the future we were supposed to have."

 **A.N: And that's that. The next, final chapter will be Toji's view on things.**


	3. Toji

**Toji**

Toji furrowed his eyebrows. It was too loud and he couldn't sleep!

"Ugh... what's with the yelling?" he muttered and the yelling stopped. Then he opened his eyes, noticing the unfamiliar, pitch black surroundings "What the heck?"

"Who's there?!"

"I'm Murozaki Toji" he replied out of habit "Who am I talking to?"

"I'm-" Toji heard the other person, a woman, pause. He didn't say anything, just waited for her to finish "Arare. Fushizuke Arare."

"Well it's nice to meet you... even if I can't see you" Toji said "So, where are we? It's really dark in here."

"I don't know" he heard Arare answer "Do you see anything around you?"

"Nope, it's all dark and narrow. How about you, Arare-cha- ah, is it okay if I call you that? You can call me Toji." it was probably better to not make her angry by talking to her too familiarly if she didn't want it; after all she sounded like she had quite the temper.

"Sure. It's the same here; dark and narrow and the walls around me won't even budge."

"I haven't even tried to move them" Toji realized, looking ahead despite not really seeing anything "But I suppose I should."

Toji started to try to kick the walls down, his mind processing what had happened.

" _This is probably the "future" dad was talking about sending me in to... he did say it'd be soon... but he could've told me that it was_ now _!"_ not that thinking about it helped. If what his parents told him was really true then they were dead already because of the end of the world or something and he had been sent to the future with a bunch of other people... or something _"I suppose it wasn't some sick joke after all."_

"No use, these walls or whatever won't move." not that it mattered; soon someone would come to let them out for sure.

"You seem really calm" Arare said suddenly "Why is that?"

"Uh..." okay, should he tell her what he knew? Or did she know what happened and was testing him? But if she didn't know anything and he told her she'd probably think he was crazy "I'm just an optimistic person... I guess?"

Better not to say anything for now.

"I see" Arare seemed to be buying it, at least for the time being "So, where do you suppose we are?"

"Uuh... some kind of basement? It's a bit chilly in here after all, isn't it?" Toji said. It seemed most logical even if he knew that likely wasn't the case.

"I suppose it is" Arare said "But then again, this is Sapporo. It's pretty cold here at this time of the year, right?"

Wait, what?

"Sapporo? We aren't in Nagano?" Toji asked. Which of them was wrong? Or were they both wrong and had been moved somewhere else entirely? He hadn't been told any details...

"Nagano?" Arare repeated "No, I'm sure I went to sleep at home in Sapporo."

"Well I went to sleep at home, too" Toji told "But in _Nagano._ "

"So... I was probably right from the beginning..."

"Huh?" Right about what? Did she know something after all?

"We were kidnapped"

Okay, maybe she didn't.

"Kidnapped? Don't think so; I come from a farm and we ain't rich; why would anyone want to kidnap me?" Toji denied. If he agreed with her she might start panicking again. He didn't want to listen to the yelling again.

"Well, any other ideas, farm boy?" Arare asked. She sounded... annoyed? Angry? She certainly wasn't happy with him... not that he was particularly fond of her, either. She sounded like one of those city kids with no touch to reality that looked down on people who came from rural areas.

"Not really" Toji said. He could've just fallen in to his own thoughts for now, but a loud banging noise stopped him from doing so.

"What's all the noise?" Toji asked, making the noise stop for a while.

"I'm going to kick these walls down!"

"...Will that work?" he seriously doubted it; the structure in places like these was probably pretty strong.

"We'll see" Toji heard Arare say. He listened to her violent tantrum without complaining despite really wanting to do so until he could hear her breathing heavily.

"I think you need a break" he said. Wanting to get her thoughts elsewhere, he asked: "Wanna play Shiritori?"

"Play by yourself!"

Ah well, he had a feeling she'd say that.

"Hey I'm just trying to kill time" Toji said. That was true, he was bored after all "But if Shiritori's not okay then... let's see... tell me about yourself."

"What?"

"Just trying to start a conversation" Toji told "Well?"

"I don't want to talk to you!" Arare yelled and Toji could hear her kick the wall again. Well, that reaction was to be expected. More fuel to the fire? He knew he shouldn't, but at this point... whatever "I have a feeling that you don't like me."

"Gee, what was your first clue?" Arare asked, and Toji rolled his eyes. He could hear Arare starting to beat the walls again. After about ten minutes or so everything went quiet. Was Arare all right?

"Are you okay in there?" Toji asked, but got no answer. That was worrying "Arare-Chan? Arare!"

"I'm here okay, quit shouting!"

"Well sorry, but since you weren't answering..." Toji trailed off. He could hear her gasp for air, but came to the conclusion that mentioning it would just cause trouble, so instead he asked: "Any luck?"

Getting no answer, Toji started to get worried again. He was pretty sure that Arare wasn't answering simply because he was annoying her, but...

"You okay, Arare-chan?" Toji called her again, just to be safe "Arare-chan?"

No answer.

"C'mon Arare, you're making me worry" he really was starting to get anxious "Say something!"

She didn't say a thing, nor did she give a mark, but soon enough Toji could hear the banging again. And some kind of mumbles.

" _Well, I suppose she doesn't want to speak to me"_ Toji could hear how Arare stopped at times, only to continue again. He hoped she hadn't used just her fists; if she had she had to be bleeding by now. Taking a deep breath, he tried to remember everything he had been told about their situation. He was sent to the future because the world was ending or something. There he was supposed to start a new life with the other survivors and so forth... plus there's supposed to be an adult there who knows more about the situation. And-

"Huh? Where am I?" Toji froze; this wasn't Arare's voice. It was someone else.

"That's what we'd like to know, too" Toji answered before he could really think it through. Not long after he heard the woman ask: "Who's there!?"

"The name's Murozaki. Murozaki Toji." He saw no harm in telling her, especially since Arare already knew, too "And just to make things clear: we don't know where we are or why, either."

"We?"

Oh yeah, Arare hadn't said anything so of course she didn't know about her.

"Me and Fushizuke Arare" Toji revealed. Hopefully Arare wouldn't get mad at him later for revealing her name "I can't see her or you for that matter, but I can hear her occasionally. Her yelling woke me up earlier."

"Wha-?"

"That aside, you never told me your name" Toji said. This woman didn't seem to know anything more than Arare did.

"Ayatori Fuka"

It didn't ring any bells.

"Ayatori-san... or would just Fuka be okay?"

"I guess..." it sounded like she was hesitating "I suppose I can call you Toji, then?"

"Sure"

"You sound rather relaxed, don't you?"

" _Shit"_ Toji thought. He should've been more careful...

"Far too relaxed in fact... you know something, don't you? Tell me!" should he tell them? No, they wouldn't believe it anyway. It was for the best to wait for someone to come and get them.

"Arare and I came to the conclusion that we were kidnapped" that's what he settled on telling her. It's not like it was really a lie; he and Arare _had_ discussed about the possibility and in a way it was close to the truth since the girls didn't know what was going on.

"Kidnapped?"

"Well, we couldn't come up with anything else that would fit" Toji told, hurrying to add "I mean, there could have been an earthquake or something like that that took out the lights and got us stuck... well, here, but..."

"That can't be; I went to sleep at home. I mean I live in an apartment building and could have gotten stuck with a neighbor, but as far I know we don't have neighbors by your names and and-"

Fuka was starting to panic; it was clear from her voice. Toji had a feeling that he needed to put a stop to it, the sooner the better.

"Fuka, calm down" Toji interrupted. He didn't raise his voice, but the tone he used was stern. He just hoped it was stern enough "You're starting to panic, and that won't help."

That might not be enough, so Toji continued talking in order to keep Fuka's thoughts from straying too much: "And you're right; the names "Ayatori" or "Fushizuke" don't ring a bell, so I suppose we aren't from the same neighborhood. Besides, I'm from Nagano and Arare's from... Sapporo, I think that's what she said."

"I'm from Kyoto" Fuka said making Toji chuckle. He knew it "What?"

"Nothing" he replied, suppressing another chuckle "I mean, at occasions it seemed like you had a dialect, the Kansai one, but you hide it well."

"So? At least I don't keep using English words like the people from Tokyo usually do" She sounded offended. Oops.

"I meant no offence" Toji said, hoping that things would go better than with Arare "Just making a conversation."

"Okay" Fuka fell silent after that, and Arare didn't seem to want to talk either. Toji would've actually wanted to talk; he was bored after all, but didn't start a conversation on his own in the fear of angering the girls. He was already sinking to his own thoughts when Fuka suddenly said: "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"If we were kidnapped someone is bound to come here to give us food sooner or later... right?" Fuka asked after a while. Toji wondered what he should say; he had no idea how things would proceed from here. Would someone really come? ...Well, whatever the case it'd be pointless to worry Fuka more, so he answered: "Yeah, of course."

"Has anyone come after you woke up?"

"Nope" somehow Toji felt like he should watch his mouth right now.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Uh..." that was a good question. Just how long had it been?

"Two hours and 30 minutes, give or take a few" Toji heard Arare say. She had an incredible sense of time "And around three hours for me."

"Oh, you're awake, Arare-Chan" he said, relieved. He had been worried about the girl.

"I was never asleep to begin with"

"Okay, sorry" Toji apologized. He wondered if it was true or not... if she really hadn't been a sleep that would mean she just hadn't answered because she didn't like him. Damn.

"She doesn't really talk much... anymore. A few hours ago she was pretty loud." He thought saying that would get Arare to say something more, but there's no such luck, so he decides to try to talk with Fuka. He starts a casual conversation, getting Fuka to join with next to no effort at all. This should give them both something else to think about, too. He learned a lot about Fuka and the girl learned a lot about him. It was a bit harder, but he did manage to make Arare say a few things every now and then. He had fun talking to Fuka, and for a moment he even forgot the situation they were in. However, nothing lasted forever. They were starting to run out of things to talk about, not to mention voice, and so the harsh reality started to kick in again.

"I'm hungry and thirsty" Fuka suddenly told "Do you think someone will soon come to give us food?"

What could he answer to that?

"No" Arare answered quietly before Toji could "They'll let us starve and die of dehydration."

"Arare!" Toji hisses. Even if he didn't know what he should say that was definitely not it.

"What?" Arare asks, sounding offended "We all know it's true."

Well, maybe. Something had definitely gone wrong; otherwise someone would've come to get them already... right?

"I wanna see my dad" Fuka says.

"What about your mom?" Toji asks. Fuka's only answer is: "She died long time ago."

"That's probably for the best" Arare speaks and before Toji can tell her to shut up she adds: "For she doesn't have to worry about her missing daughter."

"Knock it off already" Toji hisses. There's no reason to worry Fuka more.

"I will when you do, too" Arare says, making Toji frown "I know you know something."

Well, true, but he better not say anything. Even if they believed him at this point, it would probably depress them more. He'd wait, at least a bit more.

"Toji?" Toji hears Fuka say after what felt like an eternity "Are you still there?"

"Yeah" Toji answered. His throat hurt "And Arare-chan? You still there?"

"Arare?" he repeats "You don't have to speak, but give us some kind of sign that you're still there, okay?"

Toji waits. He's about to call her name again, but hears three knocks right at that moment. Arare?

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah" Toji answers relieved as he coughs a little "It's Arare."

Time passes as all of them try to save their energy and voice. Yet, at one point, Toji hears Fuka's voice: "Toji."

"Yeah?"

"If we ever get out of here, let's go on a date." Now _that_ came out of nowhere... but then again, why not?

"Yeah, sure" he said, adding as a joke: "Hey Arare-Chan, do you want to join us?"

He waits, but gets no answer this time.

"Seriously, Toji?" Fuka asks, and Toji's pretty sure he can hear her laugh. Well, at least something good came out of his little joke.

"I just thought it'd be rude to leave her out of this."

"Or you're just a womanizer" Fuka said. Toji could hear her voice weakening, but didn't point it out. Instead he continued: "I won't admit or deny anything."

Toji was pretty sure he heard Fuka chuckle, but after that she didn't let out a sound. He too was quiet for a while, but soon asked: "Everything okay, Fuka?"

"Uhhuh" he heard her say after a while. Silence takes over again as Toji gets no sign from either of the girls. He falls asleep, but once he wakes up he calls again: "Fuka? Arare? You girls still there?"

He gets no answer. That can't be good.

"Fuka? Please answer" still nothing "Arare-Chan?"

Nothing. The idea that the girls were already gone frightens Toji. He had held up pretty well for now, but if he was alone... no, he didn't want to think about it. He kept calling their names, over and over again.

"Will you shut up already!?" he suddenly heard someone hiss "You're getting on my nerves!"

It was Arare, it had to be with that attitude.

"So you're still here..." Toji muttered. He was glad "What about Fuka?"

"Probably dead already" Arare said "Of dehydration."

"Don't say that!" Toji said "Besides, can people really die of dehydration this fast?"

"Do you know how long it's been?" Arare asked, but when Toji didn't answer, she said: "Didn't think so."

Was this really it? Was Fuka really dead? Would he be next? Or would it be Arare?

"It wasn't supposed to be like this..." he started to mutter "Just what went wrong?"

Muttering to himself, Toji barely registered Arare saying something, but couldn't make out the words.

"Toji!"

That shout he did hear, but what should he tell her? That her parents had sent her to this place for her own good? She'd only start to resent them, assuming she'd believe him...

"...it might be better not to know" that's what he settled on "I... it wasn't supposed to go like this... we were supposed to... I wouldn't have let them make me part of this if I'd known..."

Toji kept muttering about how it wasn't supposed to be like this, how things should've been different, how this wasn't the future they were supposed to have... Arare no longer said anything, but he couldn't even notice the silence anyway, continuing to mumble until he ran out of voice. Right before his eyes drifted shut for an eternity, the usually so optimistic man cursed the bitter cards hands of fate had dealt him.

 **A.N: Finished! Whose chapter did you like the most?**


End file.
